Okay, so it’s actually Thursday morning. We’re doing a "staycation" this week and my farm work to-do list dwarfs my usual work week. Not exactly relaxing. One of the daily duties is dragging the hose around trying to keep some favorite plants alive. We’re in a drought, though not near of the awful and epic proportions of some parts of the country. When our Floriculture Forum was held at the Dallas Arboretum this spring, horticulturist Jimmy Turner welcomed us to "Gardening Hell." … Continue reading this article “Weird Plant Wednesday – II”
Category: Perennials and Annuals
Grass, sedge, or weapon?
What is it?
Why, that’s a “Mace Sedge” – thus a medieval weapon AND a sedge. Actually…not very menacing. But very cute. Carex grayi is a wonderful clumping sedge, native to Eastern North America. Mine is situated at the edge of a home-made bog, and is at least 2.5′ tall with an upright habit.
More common in the trade are the cascading Asian sedges such as Carex dlichostachy ‘Kaga Nishiki’, C. oshimensis ‘Evergold’, and C. morrowii ‘Variagta’, all fabulous plants for the part-shade garden. … Continue reading this article “Grass, sedge, or weapon?”
Tuesday Quiz!
I think I’ll stay on the invasive species track. And in honor of finals week, here’s a wee quiz for you.
1) What do we have here?*
hint – it’s a naughty plant
2) Why can’t federal/state designations be somewhat uniform?**
Exempli gratia:
“[This plant] is listed by the U.S. federal government or a state…" – USDA Plants Database
Connecticut: Invasive, banned
Massachusetts: Prohibited
Montana: Category 3 noxious weed
New Hampshire: Prohibited invasive Species
Oregon: "B" designated weed; Quarantine
Washington: Class C noxious weed
*scroll down for answers…
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[a bit more]
* Iris pseudacorus.… Continue reading this article “Tuesday Quiz!”
It’s Spring-o’clock Somewhere…
We’re supposed to get an inch or two of snow tomorrow. It was 75 degrees last week. Typical schizophrenic spring weather. But spring was already in full bloom a few weeks ago in Dallas, Texas. Our group of Virginia Tech floriculture faculty and grad students visited for the National Floriculture Forum, a meeting of researchers and educators. It was organized by Texas A&M and hosted by the Dallas Arboretum, home of uber-horticulturist Jimmy Turner.
The Arb was right in the middle of their “Dallas Blooms” festival – they plant half a million spring bulbs each year for the most amazing show this side of Keukenhof. … Continue reading this article “It’s Spring-o’clock Somewhere…”
Mouse Tombstones
Doing this…
I must identify each and every Wave petunia!
leads to this…
and this…
Unfortunately, the second and third photo are from a college teaching and display garden. There are a lot of inexpensive yet more attractive ways to relate plant identification to your visitors.
We all do this, of course, to some extent in our home gardens. Walk around with weird plant in hand, dig hole, stick it in, say to self "I’ll come back and get that label to add to my (pick one) Excel garden database/bag of random tags/photographic memory."… Continue reading this article “Mouse Tombstones”
Lasso those grasses!
While Jeff and Bert were swilling beers and eating burgers last weekend (dang, wish I was there to commiserate!) I was whacking back the last of the perennials and grasses in our home garden. Tarp after tarp were filled with winter’s debris for compost pile as we fought 25 mph gusts the entire time. Not ideal conditions. However, a neat trick I learned years ago came in handy with the grasses. I’m assuming many of you utilize this technique also – so forgive me if this is a “nothing new” post Here’s Paul and Dabney, our Hahn Horticulture Garden horticulturists, demonstrating said technique:
Just cut below the web strap or rope with your favorite implement of destruction, and toss the whole bundle on the tarp to get it to the pile.… Continue reading this article “Lasso those grasses!”
It’s Poinsettia Time…
Love ’em or hate ’em, poinsettias are the number two potted flowering plant produced and sold in the U.S., only (very recently) surpassed by orchids. Especially amazing when you consider the five-week market window. Commercial growers go at poinsettia (“points”) production usually one of two ways: 1) smaller pot, high volume, low margin for mass markets; or 2) larger pot, florist-quality, unusual varieties, for independent garden centers, florists, and other specialty retailers. If you shopped any big box store this past weekend (bless your heart), you saw rolling racks of “doorbuster” deals such a 4.5″ points priced $1.25 or even less. … Continue reading this article “It’s Poinsettia Time…”
No point here, really…
Just go back and watch the video that Bert the Incensed posted Monday. I can’t top that.
Hope he’s had a beer and calmed down since. Now I need one.
My first reaction was more like slack-jawed disbelief over the nonsense contained within. A second viewing brought my blood pressure up a notch. For instance, I swear he says “Calcium nitrate” softly and then quickly rephrases it to “vitamins and minerals.” There’s more crap in this video than a dairy retention pond.… Continue reading this article “No point here, really…”
Pssst…over here…trees got nothing on us…
We usually look up to the trees for the spectacle of fall foliage color but there’s plenty happening down low. Ornamental grasses in autumn are, of course, amazing – I think I’ll give them a post of their own. But there are a few perennials that consistently deliver good fall color instead of turning to brown, crunchy paper.
For the shade to part-shade garden, Polygonatum odoratumthen ‘Variegatum’ is a plant for three seasons. Arching stems
spring forth in, well, Spring, with fresh green and white variegated
foliage.… Continue reading this article “Pssst…over here…trees got nothing on us…”
Quiz Plant Revealed
Ha ha hahahaha
*mad scientist-type cackling*
Purslane? Nyet! (but good guess).
It’s an Impatien! Specifically, Impatien repens, common names variously Ceylon Jewelweed, Golden Dragon Impatien, etc. Ours is actually pretty small – can form huge clumps and cascading torrents in warmer zones.
Flower is typical of many members of the genus, and they ALL have the little spur in the rear.
For more weird, wild species impatiens, visit the Cistus Nursery website (I’m pretty sure they used to sell this, but I don’t see it listed currently). … Continue reading this article “Quiz Plant Revealed”